Lots of crashes, notable one being a few years ago at Milwaukee when a Midwest Express DC9-10 had a contained engine failure after take off and managed to lose control of the plane, which crashed just outside the airport perimeter with the loss of all aboard. Throughout the 60s the type had the usual pilot-error crashes as new pilots got used to jets and facilities weren't as good as they are today. TWA lost one or two, Delta lost one landing at Boston Logan which was quite a high profile accident... I think it's a cute plane and I'd love to get a ride on one today. Do NW stilll have any? I know there's lots in Latin America, especially Mexico.

I don't recall an Air Canada crash of a DC-9 at YYZ. Perhaps you are thinking of the Cincinnati incident where one made an emergency landing due to a cabin fire. There was also an Air Canada overrun on landing at YYZ, but both these incidents were some years ago. Chris

The DC-9 entered service in 1966, I believe it was, as a direct competitor for the Boeing 737.

Northwest Airlines and Midwest Express both still operate DC9-10s. They can be seen regularly at Milwaukee General Mitchell Airport and Minneapolis/St. Paul. They are flown on short routes. They are so small, they look almost like the new regional jets which are becoming so common on feeder lines.

One of the most notable crashes involved a Hughes Airwest DC-9 and a McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom, which collided over the Los Angeles Basin. The F4 pilot ejected safely, but the DC-9 fell out of the sky into Fish Canyon, with the loss of all aboard. Hughes' colour scheme was then changed from all-white to bright yellow for visibility, the all-white fuselage having contributed to the collision as it blended in with the clouds. Another more recent and notable crash was another mid-air collision, between a Cessna and an Aeromexico DC-9, over Los Angeles. The DC-9 lost its entire horizontol stabliser and fell inverted into a residential area, again with the loss of all aboard.

The last time i looked TWA still had five in their fleet (might be in storage) but I think they are to be retired with their ex Eastern DC-9-50's at the end of the year. These aircraft are to be replaced with their soon coming 717s.

A Northwest DC9-10 collided with a Northwest 727-200 in December of 1990. I remember it was a foggy, rainy day and I was flying on Eastern to Pittsburgh. We pulled in at the gate and the camera crew was there. The Northwest DC9-10 was enroute from Detroit (where the accident occured) to Pittsburgh.